The influence of triadimenol on banana cultivars Basrai and Williams under in vitro culture

Triadimenol is a systemic fungicide with protective, curative and eradicant action. It is highly effective in controlling a variety of economically important pathogenic fungal caused diseases on plant. This study was conducted to investigate the influence of triadimenol on in vitro culture of banana cultivars Basrai and Williams. The effects of systemic triadimenol were tested on the shoot-tip explants. Explants were cultured on Murashige and Skoog (MS) basal solid medium supplemented with 5 mg/l 6-benzylaminopurine (BAP) or 1 mg/l indole-3-butyric acid (IBA) and different concentration of triadimenol. Results showed the viability of both banana cultivars were decreased as well as triadimenol concentration increased. Most of shoot-tip explants died at the lethal concentration (60 mg/l) of triadimenol. The shoot-tip proliferation, the number and length of lateral buds and efficiency of root system formation were decreased as the triadimenol concentrations increased. The sub-lethal concentration (50 mg/l) of triadimenol affected the photosynthetic pigments such as ChI a, ChI b and carotenoids contents and a variation in the number and stain intensity of the polypeptides compared with control ones was exhibited. Triadimenol (50 mg/l) treated shoots also showed dramatic decreasing in the Δ5 sterols; sitosterol, stigmasterol and campesterol content. This study demonstrated that triazole fungicide triadimenol has a similar inhibitory effect on the growth and development of the two banana cultivars Basrai and Williams

Nematodes associated with soybean (Glycine max) in upper Egypt

Dix-sept espèces de nématodes phytoparasites ont été récoltées dans les champs de soja des Gouvernorats de Menia, Assiut et Sohag, en Haute Egypte. Les espèces #Helicotylenchus pseudorobustus, Longidorus pisi, Pratylenchoides ritteri, P. variabilis, rotylenchulus parvus et #Tylenchorhynchus annulatus sont signalées pour la première fois en Egypte. #Merlinius brevidens est rencontré avec une fréquence relativement élevée tandis que #Pratylenchus zeae est présent en populations assez denses. #Meloidogyne javanica, M. incognita, Pratylenchus zeae, H. pseudorobustus, R. parvus et #Xiphinema sp. pourraient également avoir une grande importance dans les champs de soja de Haute Egypte. Les populations de #Meloidogyne javanica et #M. incognita sont plus élevées dans les sols sableux que dans les sols sablo-argileux ou argileux. #Pratylenchus zeae et #M. brevidens sont présents en populations élevées dans les trois types de sol, et plus particulièrement dans les sols sableux. Les populations de #H. pseudorobustus sont relativement élevées dans les sols argileux, tandis que pour #R. parvus les sols sablo-argileux sont plus favorables. (Résumé d'auteur

USING HISTORIC SITES IN DETERMINING PLANT-SOIL INTERACTIONS UNDER LONG TERM CONTAMINATED SOILS

The relationships between heavy metals in soils and crop tissues are critical in understanding the potential risk to crop yields from Zn, Cu and Ni (the principal phytotoxic elements of concern in sludge), and the possible effects on dietary Cd (the critical zootoxic element that is labile in sludge-treated soil and readily absorbed by plants. These relationships cannot be derived from the agronomic trials because the quantities of heavy metals applied to the soil in sludge are small. These are field sites have been treated with sludge for many years in operational practice and where the oncentrations of heavy metals have been significantly raised above background values, representing potentially a worse-case of soil contamination. The purpose of the study was to provide a surrogate for long-term sludge-treated agricultural soil by examining the effects on crops of heavy metals in soil irrigated with raw sewage effluent for periods of more than 80 years and containing significantly elevated concentrations of heavy metals. Methodology: Two surveys of the Gabal El Asfar Old Farm were undertaken to assess the long-term effects of heavy metals in sludge-treated soil on crop quality. In the first survey, the relationships between total and DTPA extractable heavy metals in soil and concentrations in citrus fruit were examined. Concentrations of heavy metals in leaves of citrus were measured in the second survey and related to total and DTPA extractable metals in soil. The heavy metal contents of citrus leaves and fruit (orange - eleven sampling sites; mandarin - four sampling sites), and total and DTPA extractable concentrations in soils were measured in samples collected from different areas of the Farm during two site surveys. Total and DTPA concentrations of heavy metals in the surveyed soils showed significant enrichment by long-term irrigation with sewage effluent. For example, the maximum total concentrations of Zn and Cu were 530 and 366 mg kg-1, respectively, representing a potential risk to crop yields The maximum Cd concentration detected was 9 mg kg-1 and may be a potential risk to the human food chain from uptake into staple crops grown at the farm. DTPA extractable metals were significantly (P<0.001) correlated with the total contents of Zn (r=0.91***), Cu (r=0.83***), Ni (r=0.63***) and Pb (r=0.85***) in soil when data from both surveys were pooled for statistical evaluation. There was also evidence of a weak relationship between DTPA extractable Cd and the total soil Cadmium is the only element of concern in terms of the risk to human health from uptake into food crops grown on sludge-treated soil. The total Cd concentration in soil was raised to a value 3 times the maximum EU limit for this element in sludge-treated agricultural soil. Despite the marked increase in soil Cd content, there was no detectable transfer into citrus leaves or fruit (Figure 1). The absence of Cd uptake into citrus fruit is to be expected because fruits are amongst the least sensitive plant parts to Cd accumulation. These data emphasise the minimal risk to the human diet from Cd in fruit crops grown on sludge-treated soil. . In all cases, leaf tissue concentrations were low and in some cases Cu status was below the deficiency threshold. The Cd content in leaves was small and generally <0.02 mg kg-1 DM.

Digestion, growth performance and caecal fermentation in growing rabbits fed diets containing foliage of browse trees

[EN] This study aimed to evaluate the effect of feeding dried foliage (leaves and petioles) of Acacia saligna, Leucaena leucocephala or Moringa oleifera on the performance, digestibility, N utilisation, caecal fermentation and microbial profiles in New Zealand White (NZW) rabbits. One hundred weaned male NZW rabbits weighing 819.2±16.6 g and aged 35±1 d were randomly allocated into 4 groups of 25 rabbits each. Rabbits were fed on pelleted diets containing 70% concentrate mixture and 30% Egyptian berseem (Trifolium alexandrinum) hay (Control diet) or one of the other 3 experimental diets, where 50% of berseem hay was replaced with A. saligna (AS), L. leucocephala (LL) or M. oleifera (MO). Compared to Control diet, decreases in dry matter (DM; P=0.004), organic matter (P=0.028), crude protein (CP; P=0.001), neutral detergent fibre (P=0.033) and acid detergent fibre (P=0.011) digestibility were observed with the AS diet. However, DM and CP digestibility were increased by 3% with the MO diet, and N utilisation was decreased (P<0.05) with AS. Rabbits fed AS and LL diets showed decreased (P=0.001) average daily gain by 39 and 7%, respectively vs. Control. Feed conversion was similar in Control and MO rabbits, whereas rabbits fed AS diet ate up to 45% more feed (P=0.002) than Control rabbits to gain one kg of body weight. Caecal ammonia-N was increased (P=0.002) with LL, while acetic acid was decreased (P=0.001) with AS diet vs. other treatments. Caecal E. coli and Lactobacillus spp. bacteria counts were decreased with MO by about 44 and 51%, respectively, vs. Control. In conclusion, under the study conditions, tree foliage from M. oleifera and L. leucocephala are suitable fibrous ingredients to be included up to 150 g/kg in the diets of growing rabbits, and can safely replace 50% of berseem hay in diets of NZW rabbits without any adverse effect on their growth performance. Foliage from M. oleifera had a better potential as a feed for rabbits than that from L. leucocephala. Although foliage from A. saliga may be also used at 150 g/kg in the diets of growing rabbits, this level of inclusion may result in reduced feed digestibility and growth performance.Abu Hafsa, S.; Salem, A.; Hassan, A.; Kholif, A.; Elghandour, M.; Barbabosa, A.; Lopez, S. (2016). Digestion, growth performance and caecal fermentation in growing rabbits fed diets containing foliage of browse trees. World Rabbit Science. 24(4):283-293. doi:10.4995/wrs.2016.4359.SWORD28329324

Phase diagram of the one-dimensional extended attractive Hubbard model for large nearest-neighbor repulsion

We consider the extended Hubbard model with attractive on-site interaction U and nearest-neighbor repulsions V. We construct an effective Hamiltonian H_{eff} for hopping t<<V and arbitrary U<0. Retaining the most important terms, H_{eff} can be mapped onto two XXZ models, solved by the Bethe ansatz. The quantum phase diagram shows two Luttinger liquid phases and a region of phase separation between them. For density n<0.422 and U<-4, singlet superconducting correlations dominate at large distances. For some parameters, the results are in qualitative agreement with experiments in BaKBiO.Comment: 6 pages, 3 figures, submitted to Phys. Rev.

Inactivated pentavalent vaccine against mycoplasmosis and salmonellosis for chickens

Mycoplasma and Salmonella are serious pathogens threaten the poultry industry. This study aimed to prepare and evaluate an inactivated pentavalent vaccine targeting bacteria, including Salmonella enterica serovar Typhimurium (ST), Salmonella enterica serovar Enteritidis (SE), Salmonella enterica serovar Kentucky (SK), Mycoplasma gallisepticum (MG), and Mycoplasma synoviae (MS), from locally isolated strains. The prepared vaccine was adjuvanted with Montanide ISA70 oil and then tested for safety, sterility, and potency. The vaccine efficacy was evaluated in 110 specific pathogen-free, 1-day-old chicks, which were divided into three groups as follows: 1) vaccinated group (50 birds), which was subdivided into five subgroups of ten birds each; 2) control positive (challenged) group (50 birds), which was subdivided into five subgroups of ten birds each; and 3) control negative (blank) group, which included ten birds. Chicks in group 1 were administered the first dose of vaccine at 7 d of age followed by a booster dose after 3 wk. At 3 wk after booster vaccination, the chicks who were administered the booster dose were challenged and kept under observation until the end of the experiment when the chicks were approximately 10 wk. Details of clinical symptoms, daily mortality, weights, and postmortem lesions; serum samples; cloacal swabs; and nasal swabs were collected during the experiment. The humoral immune response to the prepared pentavalent vaccine was assessed using enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay. Our findings revealed that the prepared vaccine showed high protective antibody titers against Salmonella and Mycoplasma with 100% efficacy and no mortalities (100% survival rate) were recorded in vaccinated and challenged birds. The vaccine reduced both clinical signs and bacterial shedding post challenge in vaccinated birds in comparison with control positive group. The prepared vaccine did not affect the body weight gain of the vaccinated birds in comparison with control negative birds. The current study concluded that locally manufactured inactivated pentavalent vaccine offers protection to birds and could be employed as an effective tool along with biosecurity measures to overcome mycoplasmosis and salmonellosis in layer and breeder chicken farms in Egypt

Pharmacological, nutritional and antimicrobial uses of Moringa oleifera Lam. leaves in poultry nutrition: An updated knowledge

Recently, developing countries have focused on using innovative feed in poultry nutrition. The plant Moringa oleifera is native to India but grows worldwide in tropical and subtropical climates. Moringa is planted on a large scale as it can tolerate severe dry and cold conditions. All parts of this plant can be used for commercial or nutritional purposes, and it has a favorable nutritional profile. Beneficial phytochemicals, minerals, and vitamins are abundant in the leaves. The leaf extracts can be used to treat malnutrition; they also possess anticancer, antioxidant, antidiabetic, antibacterial, and anti-inflammatory properties. Further, moringa contains antinutritional substances, such as trypsin inhibitors, phytates, tannins, oxalates, cyanide, and saponins, which have a harmful effect on mineral and protein metabolism. Previous research suggested that including moringa in chicken diets boosts their growth and productivity. Therefore, this review focuses on the characterization and application of M. oleifera in poultry nutrition and its potential toxicity. Furthermore, we discuss the nutritional content, phytochemicals, and antioxidants of M. oleifera leaf meal and its applicability in poultry rations

The relationship among avian influenza, gut microbiota and chicken immunity: An updated overview

The alimentary tract in chickens plays a crucial role in immune cell formation and immune challenges, which regulate intestinal flora and sustain extra-intestinal immunity. The interaction between pathogenic microorganisms and the host commensal microbiota as well as the variety and integrity of gut microbiota play a vital role in health and disease conditions. Thus, several studies have highlighted the importance of gut microbiota in developing immunity against viral infections in chickens. The gut microbiota (such as different species of Lactobacillus, Blautia Bifidobacterium, Faecalibacterium, Clostridium XlVa, and members of firmicutes) encounters different pathogens through different mechanisms. The digestive tract is a highly reactive environment, and infectious microorganisms can disturb its homeostasis, resulting in dysbiosis and mucosal infections. Avian influenza viruses (AIV) are highly infectious zoonotic viruses that lead to severe economic losses and pose a threat to the poultry industry worldwide. AIV is a challenging virus that affects gut integrity, disrupts microbial homeostasis and induces inflammatory damage in the intestinal mucosa. H9N2 AIV infection elevates the expression of proinflammatory cytokines, such as interferon (IFN-γ and IFNα) and interleukins (IL-17A and IL-22), and increases the proliferation of members of proteobacteria, particularly Escherichia coli. On the contrary, it decreases the proliferation of certain beneficial bacteria, such as Enterococcus, Lactobacillus and other probiotic microorganisms. In addition, H9N2 AIV decreases the expression of primary gel-forming mucin, endogenous trefoil factor family peptides and tight junction proteins (ZO-1, claudin 3, and occludin), resulting in severe intestinal damage. This review highlights the relationship among AIV, gut microbiota and immunity in chicken

Public Sentiment Analysis and Topic Modeling Regarding COVID-19’s Three Waves of Total Lockdown: A Case Study on Movement Control Order in Malaysia

[Abstract] The COVID-19 pandemic has affected many aspects of human life. The pandemic not only caused millions of fatalities and problems but also changed public sentiment and behavior. Owing to the magnitude of this pandemic, governments worldwide adopted full lockdown measures that attracted much discussion on social media platforms. To investigate the effects of these lockdown measures, this study performed sentiment analysis and latent Dirichlet allocation topic modeling on textual data from Twitter published during the three lockdown waves in Malaysia between 2020 and 2021. Three lockdown measures were identified, the related data for the first two weeks of each lockdown were collected and analysed to understand the public sentiment. The changes between these lockdowns were identified, and the latent topics were highlighted. Most of the public sentiment focused on the first lockdown as reflected in the large number of latent topics generated during this period. The overall sentiment for each lockdown was mostly positive, followed by neutral and then negative. Topic modelling results identified staying at home, quarantine and lockdown as the main aspects of discussion for the first lockdown, whilst importance of health measures and government efforts were the main aspects for the second and third lockdowns. Governments may utilise these findings to understand public sentiment and to formulate precautionary measures that can assure the safety of their citizens and tend to their most pressing problems. These results also highlight the importance of positive messaging during difficult times, establishing digital interventions and formulating new policies to improve the reaction of the public to emergency situations.Taiwan. Ministry of Science and Technology; 108-2511-H-224-007-MY

Phytochemical control of poultry coccidiosis: A review

Avian coccidiosis is a major parasitic disorder in chickens resulting from the intracellular apicomplexan protozoa Eimeria that target the intestinal tract leading to a devastating disease. Eimeria life cycle is complex and consists of intra- and extracellular stages inducing a potent inflammatory response that results in tissue damage associated with oxidative stress and lipid peroxidation, diarrheal hemorrhage, poor growth, increased susceptibility to other disease agents, and in severe cases, mortality. Various anticoccidial drugs and vaccines have been used to prevent and control this disorder; however, many drawbacks have been reported. Drug residues concerning the consumers have directed research toward natural, safe, and effective alternative compounds. Phytochemical/herbal medicine is one of these natural alternatives to anticoccidial drugs, which is considered an attractive way to combat coccidiosis in compliance with the “anticoccidial chemical-free” regulations. The anticoccidial properties of several natural herbal products (or their extracts) have been reported. The effect of herbal additives on avian coccidiosis is based on diminishing the oocyst output through inhibition or impairment of the invasion, replication, and development of Eimeria species in the gut tissues of chickens; lowering oocyst counts due to the presence of phenolic compounds in herbal extracts which reacts with cytoplasmic membranes causing coccidial cell death; ameliorating the degree of intestinal lipid peroxidation; facilitating the repair of epithelial injuries; and decreasing the intestinal permeability induced by Eimeria species through the upregulation of epithelial turnover. This current review highlights the anticoccidial activity of several herbal products, and their other beneficial effects